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The Uptown Optimist Tree Lot opens the Friday after Thanksgiving and stays open until the 1000+ trees on hand are sold. Dating back to the late '50's, the tree sale directly funds the club's philanthropic mission in the Great Falls Community.

Widespread snow and cold is expected to follow high winds into northcentral Montana Friday evening breaking a spell of dry and warm weather.

“It’s going to feel like winter again,” said Jason Anglin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Great Falls.

A cold front from Canada, forecast to arrive after 6 p.m. Friday evening, could bring 1 to 4 inches of snow at lower elevations, and 4 to 8 inches in the mountains, before tapering off Saturday afternoon.

The last measurable snowfall in Great Falls was .7 inches on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4.

Saturday’s high is expected to be in the low 30s, about a 20-degree drop from Friday’s high of 50.

The normal for this time of year is 34 degrees.

“This cold will continue through next week,” said Anglin, noting highs will be in the 30s with lows in the 20s.

Since July 1, when the snow year resets, 16.1 inches of snow has been recorded at Great Falls, which is 1.6 inches below normal.

For the month of December, Great Falls is 3.3 inches below normal.

It’s too early to say whether Great Falls will have white Christmas, Anglin said.

At least an inch of snow is on the ground in Great Falls on Christmas 40 percent of the time, according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.

Friday’s cold front was preceded by high winds.

Gusts in great falls reached 51 mph at 10 a.m. and again at noon.

“Since then we’ve been consistently gusting around 40 mph,” Anglin said Friday afternoon.